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Background: Sickle cell disease is a genetic abnormality involving the haemoglobin synthesis. Although it is a primary red cell disorder, white blood cells (WBC) and platelets are also affected by the mutation. Aim: To assess and compare the hematological parameters of homozygous sickle cell disease in a steady state with age-matched and sex-matched hemoglobin AA controls. Methods: A total of 150 apparently healthy young adults (18-35 years) participated in this study. They were classified into two groups 88 cases with hemoglobin SS and 62 controls. Venous blood collected into EDTA tubes from participants were used for the full blood count analysis which was done using hematological autoanalyzer (SFRI blood cell counter, H18 light, France). The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and the alpha value was set at P value less than 0.05. Results: The mean values for white blood cell, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean cell volume, red cell distribution width and platelet count were significantly higher in the Hb SS cohort while the packed cell volume and red cell count were significantly lower in the Hb SS cohort. Conclusions: homozygous sickle cell disease patients have lower values of hemoglobin concentration, PCV, the red cell indices but higher values of white cell count and platelets compared with hemoglobin phenotype AA controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: According to rare studies, the age at EBV primary infection (PI) has recently risen in some developed countries. A later age at infection is generally considered a risk factor for severe EBV PI, although few studies exist on this subject. Our investigation aimed to determine whether EBV seroprevalence and EBV PI epidemiology have evolved in France, and to what extent age and infection intensity (regarding biological parameters) are correlated. Methods and findings: We conducted a retrospective study of the following EBV serological tests databases: tests carried out at Grenoble University Hospital (2000–2016) (n = 53,553); and tests carried out by a network of city laboratories in Grenoble area (2008–2015) (n = 27,485). The hospital population showed a continuous, significant decrease in EBV seroprevalence over the studied period for patients aged 20 and over (p<0.01). The seroprevalence also decreased for different age classes (<10, 15–19, 20–30, and 30–40 years old) over the periods 2001–2005, 2006–2010, and 2011–2015. Consistently, the age at PI was significantly higher in the years 2008–2015 than in the years 2001–2007 (15.6±12.0 vs. 13.7±11.0; p = 0.03). The city laboratory population showed the same trend of decreasing seroprevalence (p = 0.06); no significant variations in age at PI were observed. The age at PI was positively correlated with ASAT, ALAT, γGT, and bilirubin blood levels (p<0.01) and negatively correlated with platelet counts (p<0.05). Conclusion: In the last 15 years, the age at EBV PI has increased, whereas seroprevalence has decreased. Moreover, our findings confirm the positive correlation between age and biological abnormalities. Taken together, these results suggest that the incidence of severe EBV PI will increase in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beef cattle welfare and health status are influenced by housing and management systems. The present study aimed to assess the welfare and health status in the first 15 days after arrival of Limousine bulls imported from France and fattened in a commercial fattening unit in Italy. A total of 264 bulls were included in the study. Welfare, biosecurity, and major hazard and warning system were assessed on days 2 (T1) and 15 (T2) after arrival to the unit. At T1 and T2 an inspective clinical examination was performed on all bulls. At T1 and T2 blood samples were collected from 88 bulls for haematological analysis. Both at T1 and T2, the welfare, biosecurity, and major hazards and warning systems were classified with a general score of medium but with a decrease on animal-based measurements in T2. At T1 and T2 the clinical examination revealed a significant increase (p-value≤0.05) of skin lesions and lameness in T2. A high incidence of respiratory disease was noticed in both assessed times. Leucocytes and all differentials count, and platelets were significantly increased (p-value≤0.05) at T2, while the fibrinogen was significantly decreased. The haematological changes suggest that the bulls were under higher stress in T2 when compared with T1 linked with a difficult adaptation response to the fattening unit. A multi-factorial approach that integrates the indicators of the checklist and the clinical and haematological findings of animals can be a useful method to deepen the assessment of welfare in beef cattle., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None of the authors has any financial or personal relationships that could inappropriately influence or bias the content of the paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)